new recipes, a lot of joy, and a borrowed space

Tag: recipe

One of the best parts about having a food blog, is that it constantly forces me to try new recipes!

I grew up making chocolate chip with my mom and younger brother. On summer days we would take over the kitchen, spilling flour everywhere, eating half of the chocolate chips, and eventually ending up with some cookies. It was a wonderful time.

Our classic recipe however, always called for butter, and no cream cheese.

The butter based cookies made for soft, thin, crinkly cookies, which I have always loved! I mean seriously, when has butter ever made a dish taste worse?

However, when I stumbled upon this recipe, the cream cheese had me intrigued and I knew I had to try this spin on the classic recipe!

And I will say- the cream cheese was a huge hit! Cream cheese makes these cookies fluffier and thicker, and slightly less greasy feeling. They were gobbled up far quicker than I would like to admit, and I am confident you will love them!

I hope your family enjoys them as much as we did. Who knows, you may be looking to change your traditional cookie recipe before you know it! 🙂

2 ¼ cups chocolate chips (I recommend using either half chocolate chips and half chocolate chunks, or substituting the chunks for another variety of chips- white or in my case, salted caramel!)

Directions:

Combine the butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer for five minutes, until light and fluffy.

Once thoroughly mixed, add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined- about one minute.

Fold in the chocolate and salted caramel chips, evenly incorporating.

Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours. Either cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or go ahead and shape two-inch cookies, flatten, and cover with plastic wrap. (Do not bake warm dough, the cookies will be thinner and flatter.)

Preheat the oven to 350˚F, and lightly grease a baking sheet. Arrange the cookies two-inches apart and bake for eight minutes. Pull the cookies out when the edges have just begin to set- the center will still look quite soft and white, but the cookies firm up significantly while cooling.

Saturday will be here before we know it, and that means the Fourth of July – fireworks, family, friends, starry nights, jeans, bare feet and food. Lots of food.

For all of you out there brainstorming what to bring to your neighborhood potluck, what to cook for your relatives, or how to celebrate this holiday in a more environmentally friendly way by going vegetarian- look no further.

Below I have compiled a list of scrumptious foods perfect for this summer holiday. Check it out, and let me know what you try!

I know I say that about a lot of things, which I hold to be true, but THIS! This is good.

There is something really special about this dish. The pairing of the zesty lemon juice with the fragrant herb, and the sweet savory mascarpone cheese- yes please. I promise you will love it.

One additional pro, (I could go on, but I will spare you!), is that this dish is very simple to prepare, but is very elegant in presentation and appearance. Bookmark this one for the next time you have company, and come back tomorrow for one more lavender recipe!

So, apparently there is such a thing as a 1-2-3-4 cake. That was new to this amateur chef, until I made this recipe.

A 1-2-3-4 is a simple cake recipe base that notes 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs. From this standard, dozens of cake shave been created, altering additional ingredients such as salt, vanilla, baking soda, and additional flavoring. If you Google search 1-2-3-4 cake, you will be amazed with the results!

So, knowing this cake base comes from a long history of use and love, you can trust that this cake is one delicious recipe.

For those of you unfamiliar with lavender, the pairing of this fragrant flower and lemon blend beautifully, and can lend one to eating too much cake in one sitting. Trust me, I know.

Give it a try, and come back for more delicious Lavender recipes in this week’s Lavender series!

Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Continue mixing until the mixture has reached a consistency similar to buttercream frosting.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients- flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

On low, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternatively to the mixing bowl, beating after each addition. Mix until the ingredients come together, but do not over mix!

Gently fold in the lavender and pour into the loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes, checking for firmness after 40 minutes (when done, a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean).

Mix the glaze ingredients, and pour over the bread once cooled. Sprinkle with a few lavender buds, slice, eat, and enjoy!